In a significant breakthrough in the firing incident reported at Hotel Neo Majestic, Porvorim, the Crime Branch of Goa Police on Thursday apprehended three persons suspected to be involved in the incident. Police identified the ac cused as Qazu Sheikh, 28, of Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, Mumbai, Maharashtra; Is rar Ali, 25, of Teliyanpu rawa, Bulbul Newaj, Bah raich, Uttar Pradesh; and Suraj Upendra Acharya, 36, of Borivali East, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Qazu Sheikh was appre hended in Uttar Pradesh with the assistance of Jaunpur Po lice, while the other two ac cused were taken into custo dy in Mumbai. It is learnt that Qazu Sheikh was the driver.
Meanwhile, Qazu Sheikh and Suraj Acharya were produced before the Judi cial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Mapusa, who re manded them in four days of police custody. The incident occurred on August 28, 2026, during the late evening hours, when the complainant, Shrinivas Nayak, was about to leave Hotel Neo Majestic for his residence. At the time, two unidentified persons al legedly fired three to four rounds at him. The com plainant escaped unhurt, while the assailants fled the spot towards the highway. The complainant’s bod yguard, who was present with him at the time, re sponded by firing three rounds to protect the com plainant. The firing also posed a serious threat to the safety of guests and staff present in the hotel lobby.
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In this connection, Por vorim Police Station regis tered a case under Sections 109(1) and 125 read with Section 3(5) of the Bharati ya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 3 read with Section 27 of the Arms Act. The case was subsequently trans ferred to the Crime Branch Police Station, Ribandar, for further investigation. During the investigation, the Crime Branch team, along with teams from the North District, conducted a detailed analysis of CCTV footage obtained from the hotel and surrounding ar eas, besides carrying out technical analysis and gath ering other investigative inputs. The investigating team also examined the complainant, his bodyguard and other witnesses who were present at or near the scene of the incident. Their statements were cor roborated with CCTV footage, technical inputs and other material collected during the investigation. The sustained investigation led to the tracing and appre hension of the three accused.
Soon after the case was reg istered, police asked mobile telecom companies to provide cell-dump data covering the Porvorim area around the crime scene during the relevant period. The analysis of the data helped police trace the accused and apprehend them. The arrested accused are being interrogated to ascertain their respective roles, the motive behind the incident, the circumstances leading to the firing and the involvement of any other persons connected with the offence. PI Nikhil Palekar is conducting further investigations un der the supervision of SP (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta, IPS.
